Rise of the Dark Guardian
by GirlWonder29
Summary: What happens when Pitch returns and a new Guardian must step forth? And what if she doesn't want to be a Guardian? Read on, and witness the arrival and story of the Dark Guardian, Jada Shade.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, readers! My first ever published fanfic on this site, so bear with me!

Jada: Why do I have to fall in the ice lake?

Author: No idea. Now, read on!

Prologue

Darkness.  
That's the first thing I remembered.  
It was black, it was cold, and I was terrified.  
Until I saw the Moon.  
Then that light, that bright light seemed to chase away the fear, everything I was scared about.  
The Moon chose me, that night.  
My body lifted out of the shadows. I gasped. "Whoa!"  
I was...I was FLYING. It was an indescribable feeling, as I laughed and soared over trees and in the sky.  
So, thanks, magic power of flight, I really needed to lose control and plunge about twenty feet into a partly frozen pond.  
No offense.

I fell, pretty much trying not to (but failing) scream my head off. "AAAAAAA!-"  
Lucky (or really NOT lucky) for me, I fell in a hole in the tiny lake, pretty much a pond.  
The plunge? Freezing. The water? More than freezing. The descent? Worst of all.  
I thought that the icy darkness of the water as I sunk deeper and deeper would swallow me up, and I would be lost.  
But, the Moon chose me. And it wasn't so I could die in deep ice water.  
I flew out of the lake, shivering slightly, but alive. The cold air quickly dried me off as I  
swooped through the air and started laughing again.  
I landed on the edge of the frozen pond. I stepped backwards and tripped over something.  
I took a quick glance to see what it was. It was a long branch.  
Something about it made me go and pick it up. It was extremely light.  
I turned it over in my hands, studying it. Then I froze. As soon as I had touched it, the part that I  
had touched had turned dark gray-black. Like...A shadow.

I walked over and touched a tree. More shadows.  
I touched another tree. Same thing. "Wow..."  
Strange, really strange.  
I looked down at the branch I had picked up.  
It had short, tiny branches, pretty much entwined together  
closely at the top. The rest of it was straight and smooth, save for a couple bumps along its end.  
Tiny curves ran all around it, from top to bottom. It wasn't so short that I could use it for a wand,  
and not so long that I couldn't carry it around easily.  
I spun it around experimentally, and caused shadows to spiral out from its tip,  
like a dark kaleidoscope. It was a pretty old looking stick, but strong. It wouldn't easily break.  
Come to think of it, I thought...How long had I been here for?

I peered over into the water from the hole I had fallen into. The Moon shone enough of its light down for me  
to see what I looked like.  
I was...Twelve? Thirteen? Most likely thirteen.  
My hair was really long, coming down almost to my elbows. It was parted in the middle and tucked behind my ears.  
It was held back by a light brown cloth headband, except for a long strand that hung down the left side of my face,  
hanging over my cheek. My skin was kind of pale, but slightly tanned. Weird, since I had been sleeping in the  
shadows for who knows how long.  
I was wearing a plain dark brown dress, trimmed with blue and green and ripped on the bottom, which reached my ankles.  
I had a short brown cloak fastened at my neck. I had brown, disheveled, ripped-up shoes, that flew off my feet as I took a  
step back. Well. So much for shoes.

Suddenly, I heard a sound, coming from the right side of the forest. There were bright lights coming from  
a REALLY far distance away. I flew up to take a closer look. It looked like a village. Maybe I could get help.  
Relieved, I flew over to the village. I landed and stepped into the village, slightly laughing with relief.  
There were lots of people there, children and adults, walking, sitting, talking or playing.  
"Hello?" I said. No one noticed. "Excuse me, sir...Sir?" The man I had addressed continued to chat.  
A group of little kids started running around, chasing each other. I stepped in front of a little girl who laughed as she ran.  
"Hi, could you tell me where I am and what the name of this village-"  
I gasped. The girl had run THROUGH me. One moment I was in front of her, the next she was behind me.  
It had felt weird, like a cold shiver running through my body, leaving me panting and gasping for breath.  
I felt it again. A lady had walked right through me, arm in arm with her friend. Another kid walked through.  
Why couldn't anyone seem to see or hear me? Was I a ghost? No...I could still touch myself and I didn't FEEL like a ghost.  
But why?  
I flew out of the village and back to the pond. I stared up at the Moon, still holding my branch.  
"Who am I? Why can no one hear or see me? Who am I?"  
The Moon shone its bright rays of light into the snow behind me. I turned. Glowing letters were etched on the snow.  
And written on the snow was this: JADA SHADE.


	2. Chapter 2

ABOUT 300 YEARS LATER...  
NORTH POLE

North had called all the other Guardians to the Pole. Apparently, Pitch had returned.  
Sandy pointed out the Man in the Moon immediately. His rays of light shone down.  
The magic crystal rose out of the ground. Bunny was surprised. "What, again? We already got Jack."  
"Must be really bad. Manny thinks we need even MORE help." North gazed at the crystal, as  
its swirling mist started to form the figure. Tooth flew around excitedly. "Who is it? Maybe THIS time it's  
the Leprechaun!" The Easter Bunny prayed quietly. "Not the groundhog, not the groundhog..."  
North gasped in excited expectation, as the figure was finally revealed. It showed a girl with hair in a high ponytail,  
a thin jacket, holding a staff with a small smile on her face.  
"Hm. Jada Shade." "Oh, wow!" said Tooth. "The Shadow Girl?"  
Bunny had this incredibly annoyed expression on his face.  
"What? Her? Oh, no way, mate. There's no good that's coming out of her shadows!  
She's a smart-aleck, rude, immature-" "Young Guardian." Finished North.  
"Oh, no. I can assure you, Jada Shade is most definitely NOT a Guardian. And that's a promise!"

ON TOP OF BUILDING  
FLYING AROUND  
BURGESS  
Jack Frost flew through the air. It had been two weeks since the defeat of Pitch Black.  
Truthfully, Jack was kind of bored. He tossed a snow ball at a nearby STOP sign.  
It wasn't like he WANTED Pitch to come back. But...after something so exciting, did the rest of the Guardians  
seriously expect him to accept responsibilities as a Guardian and protect kids? In other words,  
live a seriously plain life babysitting in Burgess. And now Jada Shade was going to be a Guardian?  
The kid was going to help them fight Pitch? Really?  
It was night, now, and Jack could see the trails of Sandy's magic dream sand trailing over houses.  
He flew to the top of a building and reached his hand up. As soon as his finger touched the sand, golden dolphins  
flew out and danced through the air. Jack laughed in delight, and jumped on the roof of another building.  
Suddenly, he heard a sound. Something like a footstep. Not a kid, all kids would be in bed by this  
time. Adults would most likely be in their houses. So who was it?  
Jack decided to follow it. The sound became louder as Jack raced towards it.  
It was coming from the alley, he was sure of it.  
Jack jumped down into the alleyway, holding his staff out in front of him.  
"OK," he muttered out loud. "There better not an Australian bunny who'll pop out and yetis who'll shove  
me into a sack and toss me through a portal." Something behind him. He turned and got ready to blast it..  
The girl he'd been about to blast yelped. "Ah!"  
Jack was really confused. "Um, sorry. Aren't you supposed to be in bed by now?"

The girl looked about thirteen, her black hair was pulled into a ponytail with a long strand hanging down her face.  
Her dark hazel eyes were still partly widened by surprise. She was wearing a dark red hooded jacket with zipped up pockets and a curious little design on the front, showing a full moon surrounded by stars.  
A black and silver quiver was on her back, filled with black arrows.  
She had black jeans and black, red and white sneakers.  
Her skin was pale but slightly tanned, like someone who had spent a long time in the sun but then got shut inside a house for  
two months. The girl was also holding a staff, a long dark branch with closely entwined branches at the top and a ebony middle.  
As she spun it nervously in her hands, it seemed to change form from a staff to a long black bow.  
Then it changed back to a staff and shadows spiraled out of its tip.  
She looked really familiar for some reason.  
"Can you see me?" They asked at the same time. "Yes." They both replied at the same time.  
"And, like, I've been sleeping for almost 100 years, so I've pretty much have my fill of sleep." She answered.  
Jack chuckled. "Yeah, I know how that feels. Who are you?"  
"Jada Shade." Oh, that's why she had looked familiar. "The thirteen year-old immortal? Shadow powers?" "Yep."  
"And aren't you...One of those Guardians? Jack Frost?" "Yep, that's me."  
"Knows North, Tooth, Bunny and Sandy?" "Yeah."  
"Wow. Must be nice." She sighed. "What is?" "Being believed in. Being heard and seen."  
"Don't worry, only about six kids in this town, Burgess, believe in me. Other than that, I'm still invisible."  
Jack was about to break it to her that she was going to be a Guardian, but then suddenly there was a sound behind them.  
"G'day, mate."  
Jack groaned. Here they went again.  
"Bunny?" Gasped Jada. "The one and only." The Easter Bunny stepped out of the shadows.  
"Nice to see you again. Weren't you the one who caused the blackout of '72? Easter, wasn't it?"  
"Aw, c'mon, it was an accident!" "Yeah, well, forgive me if I'm still touchy about that. North might be too.  
After all, his Christmas was a dark event a couple years ago. But you need to come too.  
"As well as you, Jack," He continued. "Me, come? Hey, I'm not sure about that, I mean-"  
"Fellas?" The yetis surged forwards and grabbed Jada.  
"Hey! Put me down!" She struggled, trying to aim at the yetis with her staff.  
"Again? Come on, Bunny, she's just a kid!" Jada blasted a wall accidentally while trying to aim at the yeti's head with her staff.  
Little pieces of rubble showered the ground. The Easter Bunny smirked, looking from Jada to Jack.  
"Well, kind of!" Jack protested. "Sorry, mate. But Shadow Girl has to come too."  
Jada was dropped into a giant gift box with air holes. Jack could hear her muffled protesting from inside the box.  
The yetis tossed a magic snow globe in the air. The portal opened, and the yetis threw the box through.  
Bunny tapped the ground with his foot and slid down the tunnel. The hole that had opened closed, leaving a  
single flower blooming where Bunny had been moments before.  
Jack sighed and entered the portal with the yetis.  
And all of them disappeared, leaving no trace behind in that alley.


	3. Chapter 3

INSIDE OF REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE GIFT BOX  
MAIN ROOM  
NORTH POLE

Jada did not appreciate her method of travel to the Pole.  
Sorry, but it was true. First Bunny had gone on and on about the blackout of '72, (which was NOT her fault, it  
was an accident, OK?) then the yetis decided to stuff her into a gift box and then she got sent to the North Pole.  
Literally.  
The ride was really bumpy. The box made her feel all squished and her staff had nearly broke.  
Fortunately, the journey had been short and soon enough Jada was lifting off the top of the box and staring into  
the faces of elves. "There you are!" Boomed a tall man with white hair and beard.  
North.  
Jada took a glance at her surroundings. "Wow..." The workshop was amazing.  
She climbed out of the box. Beside North was a pretty lady with shining wings. She was  
dressed in feathery clothes colored with bright shades of blue and green. A lot of tiny replicas of her flitted around.  
Tooth.  
Bunny stood on North's other side, fiddling with his boomerangs.  
A small man all in gold stood beside Bunny.  
Sandy.  
Jack leaned against the wall close to Jada, holding his staff and grinning at her apologetically.  
"Sorry, North seems to have a habit of kidnapping teenagers. Or at least, eternal ones."  
"Ah, Jack, I only try to catch ones on the Naughty List!"  
"So I'm on the Naughty List?" "Well...Yes." "Sweet!" Jada gave a small fist pump.  
All of the Guardians except for Bunny and Sandy (since he didn't really say anything) laughed.

Jada hoped that North wouldn't mention the accident a couple years ago, but her hopes were quickly extinguished as he wagged a finger at her and said: "Try not to shut lights this time!"  
Fortunately, he didn't seem too annoyed (unlike Bunny) and he didn't bring up the matter again.

Tooth flew forward eagerly. "Hello, Jada. Can you open up your mouth for a sec?"  
Jada hesitantly obliged. Tooth started to examine her teeth. "Wow! Even with your shadowy powers,  
your teeth are still white and bright!" "Um, thanks?" Jada quickly moved on to her next inquiry.  
"So...Why am I here? Am I in really big trouble, or was mailing me to the North Pole some idea of a big joke?"  
"Well, it WAS funny," Bunny pointed out. Jada scowled at him.

North walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "The reason for all this is because  
you, Jada Shade, are new Guardian!"  
Jada had to admit, she was surprised.  
Music started to be played by the elves. Colorful confetti showered down. Jada stepped back,  
officially trying not to freak out. North started to harmonize along with the music. "This is my favourite part!"  
He took a giant book and started flipping through. Meanwhile an elf started glaring up at her and tapping her shoes.  
"What?" Jada muttered quietly. "Don't like my runners?" The elf shook his head and gestured to  
to his pointy-toed slippers then to her own feet. "Oh, heck no. I'm NOT wearing pointy shoes-"  
The music grew louder, the confetti showering down more rapidly. This was too much.  
She banged her staff on the floor and turned invisible.  
"Wait!" She yelled. The music and confetti stopped. All the Guardians stared at her in shock.  
Jada turned visible again. "Who says I'm a Guardian?" North stared at her. "Why, you were chosen! Now, music!"  
The elves got their instruments ready. "No!...That's really...OK. Can we just skip the ceremony? Because I'm not a Guardian.  
I can't be one!" "Why not?" "Number one, I'm not believed in. Number two, I'm fun-loving type of kid! You guys are all, like a hundred  
years older, at least! And more responsible. Well, except for you Jack."  
She noticed the partly indignant faces of the others. "Um, no offense. And number three, you don't need me. Pitch Black isn't even here!"  
Silence fell. Tooth broke it. " Well the thing is, Jada, is that he's returned." She said gently.  
"And we may need your help.

IN SHOCK  
MAIN ROOM  
NORTH POLE

Jada was rendered speechless. AGAIN.

When she finally regained the ability to speak, her voice was quiet.  
"So Pitch is-is back? How did you find out?"  
Sandy gestured to the pale outline of the Moon.  
"Oh." Jada felt stupid. "But you guys are all-powerful! Me, what help can I be? And-"  
Jack stepped forward. "Jada," He said. "Walk with me."  
They walked through the workshop, away from the other Guardians.  
Just before they were out of earshot, Jada heard Bunny say "Maybe she's right. Maybe we CAN handle it by ourselves."  
It did nothing to improve her attitude. By the time Jack had led her over to the elevator, she was pretty much  
glaring at the ground, thinking not-very-pleasant thoughts. They mostly had to do with blasting people with her staff  
and using martial arts. When she met Pitch, she was going to kick him so hard that he'd fly all the way back to where he had come from.  
Now THAT was a pleasant thought.  
She shoved a hand into her jacket pocket. She remembered when she had gotten the jacket, along with  
all her other "modern" clothes.

It had been around the 1960's. She had sneaked into the store, which was pretty easy because no one could even see her.  
She had been looking around for new clothes. Her cloak was ripped, and her dress was in tatters.  
It wasn't that she had TRIED to rip them up, but after wearing the same things for over a 100 years, she was pretty tired of them.  
She had seen pairs of black jeans and had raced over to try them on. After finding the right pair, she set about to finding a top.  
A dark red T-shirt with black designs on it had caught her eye. Then she had wanted a jacket. She tried on several different types, but none had seemed to  
be "just right" for her. Then she saw it.  
It was perfect. A dark red jacket with a hood and a small design/logo featuring the full moon and stars surrounding it on its front. Perfect.  
After getting her new clothes, she had made several bills of money out of shadows fall down on the cashier's cash box.  
Then she had left, intent on finding some suitable shoes.

After half an hour, she had found a pair of red, black and white running shoes. And quickly repeated the paying process.  
She had just walked outside and peered into the glass to see how she looked. And noticed the state of her hair.  
It was now annoyingly long and heavy. The cloth headband had gotten ripped up.  
So she went to her next stop. Hair-cutting salon.  
Jada walked inside, glancing at all the people having their hair cut, blow-dried, dyed, shampooed,...etc.  
She picked up a pair of extra scissors and stared at herself. Not in a admiring, vain way, OK?  
Just to make sure that she wouldn't make herself look stupid.  
Jet-black hair. Pale (but slightly tanned) skin. Dark brown, green-flecked eyes.  
She took the scissors and began.  
Jada wished that she could've gotten a real hair-cutter, but it's kind of hard to cut someone's hair when your hands go right through them.  
Soon her hair was cut. It was neat enough, now coming down to just below her shoulders. She grabbed a plain black elastic band and removed  
her headband. She tied her hair up into a high ponytail. The strand that always fell over the left side of her face remained.  
She walked out of the salon, happy to look more modern. It was a great day.

"Jada?" Jack snapped her out of her memories. "Yeah?" She said in an in-cooperatively way.  
The elevator was still moving upwards. "Nothing, you went all quiet for a while. You OK?"  
"Well, I was enjoying happy thoughts about using karate on CERTAIN people. Other than that, and, oh, that little bit  
about being a Guardian, I'm surprisingly decent." Jack sighed, like as though he was thinking something like, 'Oh, no. Here we go again!'  
"So, still think you're unworthy of the Guardianship?" "I think you know the answer to that." Jack grinned slightly, which was the last thing Jada could have felt like doing just then.  
"Don't worry, Jade. When I first heard I was going to be a Guardian, I pretty much acted the same way you did." "In a logical way?" "Kind of."  
There was silence after that.  
Jada made a shadow shaped like a dragon fly around the elevator. She was wholesomely bored.  
100 % bored.  
She was just considering making it breathe fire at Jack's head, when they reached the top.  
The elevator doors opened, and Jada walked out. Jack led the way.  
They walked into a huge room with flying ice sculptures and Christmas trees inside it.  
"Is this North's room?" "Yeah."  
He turned around to face her.  
Suddenly the door slammed shut. Jada heard the lock turn.  
When she turned around, Jack was standing close to her. Jada flattened herself against the door,  
and fought the urge to scream, 'What the heck?!'  
Jack asked a really weird question just then. "Do you know who you are, Jada Shade? Do you know what your center is?"  
"Um, I'm a pretty freaked out immortal teenager. And what center?"  
"The thing that makes you a Guardian," He said, sounding slightly impatient.  
He backed up, and Jada moved away from the door.  
"Um...no, I don't know what it is. I'm still not sure I understand this "center" thing, anyway."  
Jack spun his staff thoughtfully. Then he went over to a shelf. Jack picked up a wooden doll, those ones that could open up and  
you would find more wooden doll things inside. On the front of the wooden doll was featured a man that looked a lot like North, with crossed swords painted on it.  
"Here." He handed the doll to Jada. 'Uh, no offense, but how's a Grimhold going to help me understand centers in any way?"  
"Don't worry. This is just a regular wooden doll. There aren't going to be any evil sorcerers popping out. At least, I don't think," He joked.

"So, this is how you would maybe see North, right? Intimidating and big and...Yeah."  
Jada went ahead and opened the doll to the next one, which showed an extremely happy looking North.  
"He is really...happy?" she muttered doubtfully. "Downright... jolly." Jack replied. Jada opened it to the next doll.  
This time, it showed North with his sleeve over his face. ("Mysterious.") The next showed North looking kind of angry. ("Fearless.")  
And the one after that showed North crying with a big smile on his face and little animals surrounding him. ("Caring.")  
"And at his center?" Jack went over and opened the doll, tipping the last one into Jada's open palm.  
It was a..."It's a tiny baby." Jada said stupidly. "Look closer. I didn't get this one the first time either."  
"He has gigantic eyes?" Jada half-asked, half-stated. "Yeah, REALLY big eyes because they're full of wonder. This is his center. The ability  
to see the wonder in everything. It's what he puts into the world. Lights in trees and presents and toys. North is the Guardian of Wonder."  
"Oh. Now I get it. Jack, what's your center?" "Fun." "So you're the Guardian of Fun?" "That's right."  
Jada put the tiny doll back on the table and picked up her staff.  
Suddenly, Bunny rushed in, North, Tooth and Sandy at his heels.  
"Trouble in Burgess, mates. We got to go."


	4. Chapter 4

NORTH'S SLEIGH  
NORTH POLE

Tooth immediately flew off into the distance, her little fairies following her.

The other Guardians made their way towards North's sleigh.  
'But I'm not even a Guardian!" Jada was protesting. "I haven't even agreed to go-"

Then she saw the upgraded sleigh.  
Wild reindeer stamped their hooves and reared up against the reins.  
The sleigh landed with a deafening BOOM.

And everyone turned to look at her.  
"OK, I'll come." she said. ''Everyone loves the sleigh," North chuckled. He got into the front seat, while Jack, Sandy and Jada climbed into the back.

"Bunny!'' said North. ''Get in!" Bunny tapped the sleigh with his foot hesitantly. "Um, I don't think so, mate. I'll just take my tunnels and go-"  
North pulled him into the back of the sleigh.  
"Fasten seat belts and buckle up!" he called cheerfully. "Whoa, stop doing that!" yelled Bunny. 'You know that there are no bloody seat belts!"  
"Exactly!'' North replied.

Jada couldn't even describe how amazing the ride was.  
In a word...Awesome.

They set off at a super-speed worthy pace, going so fast that Bunny let out a squeak in alarm and had to dig his paws into the sides of the sleigh.  
Jada had to try really hard to keep a straight face and not laugh.

Her ponytail flew in the wind. Beside her, Jack grinned, his white hair flying backwards. They turned around to look behind them,  
and Jada could see yetis working on a raised platform at the top of the ice tunnel.

"Time for loop-de-loops!" North called behind him. "AAAAH!" Bunny screamed as they went upside down and around through every twist and turn.  
Sandy threw up his hands, smiling.

Jada almost wished that the ride would never end.

But then, they finally flew out into the bright sunlight of the early morning.

Bunny groaned, like he was going to be sick. "What's the matter, Peter Rabbit?" Jada asked. "Feeling a bit nauseous?"  
Bunny made what looked like his best attempt at a glare at her. "Rack off, bloody shadow girl."  
"Oh, you want some, egg-head? 'Cause I'll give you-"  
Jack pushed his way in between them. "Whoa, save it for Pitch, guys."

"OK," muttered Jada reluctantly. But then she brightened.

"But on one super-important, crucial condition!"

Everyone except North turned to look at her.

"I get to kick him first."


	5. Chapter 5

NIGHTTIME  
LOOKING FOR PITCH  
BURGESS

Jack jumped from one building to another, searching for Pitch.

It was night now, and Jamie and his friends were in bed.

Jamie had wanted to come too.

"Please, please, PLEASE, Jack?" he begged as Jack was about to jump out of his window.  
"Sorry, Jamie. It'll be dangerous. Besides, it's late, and you DON'T want your mom finding out if you've been out this late."  
"She's never found out before," Jamie argued. "And Pitch is my enemy as much as yours! And-" he suppressed a huge yawn.  
"I'm not even tired!"  
"Look, kid. I don't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry, but North and the other Guardians have voted on it.  
So, like I said, I'm sorry, but I got to go."  
He waited, expecting Jamie to snap back a reply, but he was fast asleep.  
Sandy suddenly appeared, holding his orb of Dreamsand.  
He gave Jack an apologetic look. Jack sighed. "Thanks, Sandy."

And now, here he was, in almost the middle of the night, searching for a nightmare spirit who he had seen destroyed.

The other Guardians and Jada were searching elsewhere.  
At least, they should have been.

Jack kept his staff at the ready, raised at chest height, ready to attack, when someone said "Hi."  
Jack blasted without looking. She let out a yelp.

"Dude, not again!"

Jack was annoyed, but slightly relieved. The blast of frost had only just missed its mark.  
Because of course, it had to be her.

"Jada," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "In case it's not clear, DON'T. EVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN."

Jada gave a sheepish grin. "Oops." she said in a not-really-sincere-or-paying-attention way.  
The other Guardians climbed on top of the building with them.

"So. Um, how's it going?" asked Jada awkwardly. "Well, we're looking for Pitch and trying not to die."

"OK, pretty busy, then-HUH?!" she gasped, looking behind Jack.

Jack knew what it was even before he turned around.

"Pitch Black has arrived," The familiar British-accented voice said.

NIGHTTIME  
GETTING READY TO KICK PITCH'S BUTT  
BURGESS

Jada could have felt the cold presence before she heard the leering voice.

"Hang on, what's that?"

Pitch's pale grey-amber eyes fixed themselves on her.  
Jada wished that she could just turn invisible, but it was like his gaze had frozen her into place.  
She heard a chilling laugh as Pitch turned into a shadow and disappeared from view.

The Guardians positioned themselves into a circle, rotating warily, ready to attack.  
Jada held up her staff protectively.

"Well, well, well. Look at what the Big FIVE dragged in. Jada Shade, what a pleasant surprise."  
"Like I'd LET anyone drag me in," she replied, her heart pounding.  
Don't point out my powers, don't point out my powers, she prayed silently.

Jada knew how Pitch's and her own powers were similar.  
The difference? Hers was awesome, and Pitch's was superiorly NOT.  
At least, that's what she liked to think.

Don't point them out, don't point them out-

"And yet our powers are surprisingly similar," he continued.

Dang, Jada thought.  
"Will you really join these pathetic protectors and-" He sent an especially loathing look at Jack.  
"...Protect children who don't even believe in you?"

If the Guardians thought any of this was getting to Jada's head, they were wrong.  
Definitely wrong. Right?

She forced out a grin, knowing that it would probably aggravate Pitch even further.  
"Better than joining someone like you. A LOT better, in fact."  
"How do you know that?"  
She quickly thought of an appropriate answer.  
"The Moon told me so."

She heard Pitch gliding towards her, and tried to blast him again, but he blocked it and became invisible once more.

Suddenly she heard a shout. "Nightmares!" yelled Jack, as giant smoky-black horses with red eyes charged towards them.  
North, Tooth, Sandy and Bunny went over to help Jack. Jada ran forwards, but suddenly flew backwards with a painful "Unh!"  
as a force caught her and threw her back down.

She looked up to see Pitch standing above her. "Oh, no," he almost purred. "You don't reallly want to help them, do you?"  
In reply, she blasted him with a shadow from her staff. "Eeyahh!" He fell backwards. Jada got up and ran over to help before  
Pitch could try to psych her out again.  
She really didn't need another mental one-on-one session.  
NO,THANK YOU.

Jada turned and shot an arrow in a horse's head, her staff turning into a bow.

But luck was so NOT on her side that day.

Just as she finished dissolving about five more horses, the Nightmares decided that the shadow girl  
had some moves, and came at her harder.

Jada turned around, and the last thing she remembered was Pitch disappearing on a Nightmare looking murderous, and North and the others calling out..a warning?

A Nightmare Horse's hooves flew at her head.  
Then everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

REALLY CONFUSED  
IN BED  
NORTH POLE

When Jada awoke, she immediately sat up in the bed.  
"Nightmares!"

"Whoa, slow down," said a familiar voice.  
Jada turned and saw Jack sitting on the window ledge near her bed.  
"Jack?" She asked, confused. "What? Where-"

He held up his hands in a 'slow down' way. Jada took a quick glance at her surroundings.

She was in a small comfortable bed with a thick quilt embroidered with Christmas presents and snowflakes on it.  
She was still in her everyday clothes: jacket and jeans. She panicked for a second, looking for her staff and quiver,  
but then she saw them leaning against the wall beside her bed.

She felt her head. It had a dull ache, like as though something had knocked her out and the injury had been very recently healed.  
Other than that, she felt perfectly fine.

Her ponytail felt very tangled, though. She removed her elastic and faced the wall, combing her hair with her fingers and tying her hair back up securely.  
The reason why she faced the wall was because for some reason, she felt uncomfortable whenever someone saw her playing with her hair.  
She faced Jack again.

"So..." said Jada. "What happened?" "We fought off the Nightmares," said Jack. "But Pitch escaped, and a stray Nightmare must've whacked you on the head."  
"Ow." She said, remembering. Jada stared down at the comforter for a while, lost in thought. "You OK?" Jack asked, concerned.  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." "You sure?" "Positive. how long has it been?" "Oh, about a day." "A DAY?!" "Um, yeah." said Jack uncomfortably, as Jada freaked.  
When Jada calmed down, she asked her next option on her List Of Questions That Need Answering, Like, RIGHT Now.  
"Well?" "Well, what?" "So did I kick Pitch's butt, or what?""You probably did. Remind me not to get on your bad side." He grinned.  
Jada grinned back.

"Jada!" Tooth flew in, followed by North, Sandy and Bunny.  
She flew over to Jada and gripped her hand. "Are you all right?" "Yeah. Thanks, Tooth."  
Jada felt slightly embarrassed, being fussed over.  
But then again, it wasn't like you got to see your friend whacked on the head by a Nightmare Horse and pass out everyday.

North smiled (wait, was that relief on his face? She must've looked pretty bad). "Jada! You gave us big scare!" (Yep, definitely BAD).  
Sandy gave her a cheerful smile nad a thumbs-up. Bunny rolled his eyes.

"Bunny was worried," continued North, oblivious to Bunny's growing look of horror and denial. "He kept asking if you needed anything."  
He caught sight of Bunny shaking his head urgently. "Uh, that is, Jack was a little concerned too."  
"We all were," added Tooth. "You looked terrible!" "Wow, uh, really?" "Yes, you were-" (Tooth went on to describe how large the bump on Jada's head had been,  
how her eyes had rolled up into her head, and most importantly, how Jada had kept on dazedly, crazily muttered things like: "Did I get him yet?" or "Aww, sleigh ride's over.")

Jada tried to keep her look of dismay off her face. Did I get him yet?! Aww, sleigh ride's over?! Wow, she must have been delirious.  
This was more than embarassing, this was...HUMILIATING.

After chatting some more about plans to do with Pitch, ("We could kick him to the Man in the Moon!" "Maybe NOT, shadow girl. I'm sure we can think of better ideas than THAT."  
''Hey, Jada, what are you-" 'No! Don't get out of bed!" "Wow, that kick looked like it hurt, Bunny.")  
Jada's head started to throb after a while, and North declared that she needed rest.  
Jada felt like a hospital patient. Which, she guessed she pretty much was.

The others filed out of the room, and Jack turned out the light.  
After she fell asleep again, she was quickly awoken by a soft snore.  
Turning her head, Jada saw Bunny sleeping in the armchair beside her bed, snoring away.  
She smiled sleepily. "Aww...You DO care after all."


	7. Chapter 7

PLOTTING  
VILLAINOUS SECRET LAIR  
DEEP UNDERGROUND

Pitch just couldn't understand it.

Why would they use Jada Shade?  
Why the Guardians would appoint such a useless, little...GIRL, he would never know.

And that Jack Frost, oh, how he HATED him.  
The ungrateful trickster had actually had the nerve to turn down his generous offer of joining him and had fought against him with the rest of the pitiful Guardians.

But no matter. After all, Jack Frost wasn't going to be alive for much longer anyway.

THAT Pitch would make sure of.

HANGING OUT  
OUTSIDE  
NORTH POLE

"Think fast!"

Jack threw the snowball at Jada's head.

It promptly exploded into snowy powder.  
Jada looked like as though someone had dumped a bag of flour over her dark hair.

Smiling cheerfully, Jada shook the snow off her head, bent over, and made a snowball out of the snow on the ground.  
"Catch!" She threw the snowball at his face.  
Jack dodged, only to get hit in the arm with another well-aimed sphere, and to get hit in the face with another snowball.

Jada started laughing.  
She was even more cheerful, now that North had declared her perfectly healthy and in well-enough condition.  
"You will be up fighting Pitch in no time!" He had said with a booming laugh. Then he left to supervise the elves' and yeti's work along with Sandy.  
Jack had immediately proposed to a quick snowball fight, before helping North with preparing for Christmas, which was 2 days away.

So here they were, in the frozen outdoor landscape of the North Pole, having the said snowball fight.

Tooth had departed early to do some work, along with her fairies.  
"But I'll be back later!" she called cheerfully to a disappointed-looking Jada, as she zoomed out the door.

Bunny had left to do some more "Early preparations,".  
"But Easter is still two months away!" Jada pointed out.  
Bunny's ears flattened. "Well, unlike some of us, I have work to do."  
And with that, he slid down through his tunnel.  
"Hey, wait...Sorry, I didn't mean it like-" But Bunny was already gone.  
Jada sighed "-that."

A few minutes later, Jack went over and nudged her with his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go!"

Jada instantly brightened up.  
That was one of the things Jack liked about Jada's personality.  
She was never too down for long. At least, usually.

After they were both worn-out, they headed back in to North's workshop.

North greeted them with a big smile. Sandy gave Jada another thumbs-up, before floating off from North's Workshop to do his work.

Soon North had Jack supervising elves and for Jada...

"I give you very special job!" North led her towards the sleigh room.  
"You get to..." The door swung open. "...Help paint sleigh!"  
"Wait, wait, wait." Jada held up her hands. "Does that include making new designs?"  
North scratched his beard thoughtfully. "No black reindeer," He said finally.  
"Awesome," Jada grinned and picked up the paint can. North handed her the giant paintbrush set.  
And North and Jada went to work.

About an hour later, Jada and North stepped back to admire the finished sleigh.

Shining red, white and green paint adorned the sleigh.  
On both sides Jada had drawn and painted a little design featuring two crossed swords like North's.  
She had kept to the promise of painting no black reindeer.  
But she HAD painted something.  
It was barely noticeable, but  
Jada had a feeling that North wouldn't have appreciated it much if he had known.

North noticed Jada's mischievous grin. "What is it?" He asked suspiciously.  
"Oh, nothing."

She grinned again, thinking about how freaked North was probably going to be once he found out that she had painted a black DRAGON.


	8. Chapter 8

BACK TO WORK  
TOOTH PALACE  
EAST ASIA

Queen Toothiana, more well-known as Tooth, to her fellow Guardians was hovering around the center of the palace, issuing orders to her fairies. Colorful blurs of green and blue flitted around, squeaking every few seconds.

"San Diego, sector 2!"  
The fairy she had addressed let out a little squeak before heading off.  
"Oh, rain check in Florida. Get there before the drizzle!" The fairy squeaked in reply, and flew away.

Hopefully, she would get back in time to see Jada later. It was great that she was better, but Tooth had to get back to work. She had already been away for a while.

Tooth smiled, as she took a tiny tooth from a fairy.  
"First tooth this year! Look how well she flossed!" She exclaimed.  
Just then, a fairy tugged at her skirt. "What is it?" Tooth asked, looking down worriedly at the tiny fairy.  
The fairy pointed at the sky, squeaking. Tooth turned and gasped. The so-called Arctic Lights, A.K.A. the Guardian's signal from the North Pole flooded across  
the sky, lighting up the vast expanse of air.  
There was only two reasons for that: Either North was summoning all the Guardians for a meeting, or it was...  
Tooth's blood ran cold...a cry for help...

HONESTLY TRYING TO HELP  
NORTH POLE

Pitch cackled as he swept his hand over the colourful toys, shattering them or making them fall off the tables.  
In one arm, he held a struggling Jack Frost in a tight headlock.

North was slumped across a table, stunned, his last conscious act was raising the Guardian's alarm.  
The yetis and elves were either unconscious or stunned or hiding. REALLY not good.  
Meanwhile, Jada stood in the center of a freaking hurricane of darkness.  
REALLY, REALLY not good.

Pitch had taken them by surprise.  
He had attacked the Workshop, shocking them. North, Jada and Jack had been having a conversation on the main floor of the workshop, when he had attacked with his Nightmares.

He had knocked North down and had pinned Jada to the wall by her jacket with daggers made of shadows. Jada struggled, as she watched Pitch turn invisible and grab Jack in a headlock.  
Finally, she managed to get the dagger sticking to her left sleeve and hood loose."I like this jacket!" She yelled.  
Bending down to pick up her staff, she had flown towards Pitch, only to be stopped by some very  
vengeful Nightmares. Now here they were, very little chance of survival and with no backup, even though North  
HAD managed to set off the alarm.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Went Pitch, tightening his hold on his captive as he laughed sadistically.  
Jada summoned a few shadow dragons to fight off the Nightmares, and flew towards Pitch.

Oh, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY NOT GOOD.

Jack looked like as though he was going to suffocate, trying in vain to blast Pitch into a ice statue.  
Of course, judging from Pitch's attitude towards him, Pitch must have really hated Jack a LOT.  
Jada hovered there in front of them, trying for a I'm-going-to-kick-your-butt-with-my-magical-staff- so-fear-me type of look.  
She zoomed forwards and blasted at Pitch with her staff.  
He blocked it. AGAIN.

Thinking of a new idea, she aimed precisely at Pitch's hand, after exchanging an understanding look with Jack.  
BLAST. Literally.  
"Ah!" Pitch let out a shriek as his hand was burned with her shadow. Stumbling away from her, he released his hold on Jack. Jack immediately turned and blasted Pitch with a layer of frost.  
Together, they forced him back. Or at least, tried to.

Pitch turned back into his invisible shadow form and disappeared.  
He shot up through the door and into the sky. "He is NOT getting away," Jada flew after him, Jack at her heels.  
Pitch summoned some more Nightmares, and levitated higher. And higher.  
Suddenly, a golden whip encircled his hand, dragging him down. A blur of green and blue hovered about a magnificent sleigh.  
And the rest of the Guardians had arrived.  
Jada let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God!" If only she knew if the Guardians could pray...Hmm...

Jack was soon immersed in a crowd of Nightmares in the sky.  
Jada landed softly in the sleigh. A fully-recovered North was at the reins and Bunny and Tooth were also in the sleigh.  
"We gotta help Jack!" Jada started flying towards him. Tooth tried to fly along too, but the sleigh was surrounded by Nightmares.

Suddenly, there was a thud, and a gasp of pain from Jack.  
No...he wasn't...he didn't just-  
"NO!"  
Jada didn't know if the scream had come from her, or Tooth or any of the other Guardians.  
She gazed in horror at the darkness spreading from Jack's wound where the arrow had pierced to his whole body...

"No!" She flew forwards through the Nightmares and just managed to grab his wrist.  
Jack gazed at her helplessly, as Jada held on as if for dear life. "Jack!" "Jada..." He gasped hoarsely.  
"Jack, no, you got to listen to me-" Too much darkness...Pitch was laughing...Why did this all seem so familiar?  
"Jada, you can't...It's too fast..." But Jada wasn't listening anymore. Holding his wrist steady, she lowered him onto the sleigh.  
Tooth and Bunny and Sandy clustered around Jack, their voices fearful.  
Closing her eyes, Jada concentrated, made all her anger, all her fear, go away...Slowly, the darkness on Jack's body started to fade, until all that was left was a dark puncture, but even that was beginning to close...

"Impossible!" Pitch shrieked, summoning a flood of darkness to fall down on them...Jada flew up, raised her bow...A blinding flash, a scream...and then...nothing.


	9. Chapter 9

SITTING BESIDE A PATIENT FOR ONCE  
NORTH POLE

Jack was much better, but was still forced to lie around in bed all day.

He had Jada's sincerest sympathies because of this.

Jada had passed out. AGAIN. Really, she needed to make this unfortunate habit stop.  
Her dreams had been disturbing. (Seriously, could Guardians dream? Apparently so).

She had been running, running through a dark forest. Howls echoed from all around her...A young girl  
was screaming her name, over and over and over...  
And now she was completely obsessed with finding answers. Just who was she?  
Where did she come from? And most of all, who was the girl Jada had seen in her dreams?

Fortunately, she was just fine, apparently due to Sandy's magic and her own self-healing powers (which she didn't even know she had).

Unfortunately, almost all of North's Christmas toys had been destroyed beyond repair, and most of the yetis seemed to have gone missing, like they had been kidnapped.  
Pitch's plan to ruin Christmas seemed to be working.

Inexplicably, she thought back to when she had seen Jamie and his friends.  
There had been a young girl there too, who had sort of stood out in Jada's memories.  
Jada had heard someone call her Maia.  
For some reason, Jada felt protective of her and she had looked very familiar. Jada had a feeling like she had met her before...

Jada leaned back in the armchair near Jack's bed, watching him sleep. (OK, that may have sounded weird, but she was not watching in a bad/unholy type of way, alright?)  
He would stir occasionally, often calling out random stuff like his sister's name and Jamie in his sleep.

Tooth knelt beside him on the other side of his bed, smoothing down his snow-white hair.  
Jada was pretty sure that Jack wouldn't have been completely happy to know that all the Guardians had watched him sleep (like, almost all at the same TIME).

It wasn't until Jada was the only one in the room, having fallen asleep in the armchair (man, that chair was so dang COMFY), when Jack stirred. "Jada?"  
Jada, who had been about to doze off again, sat up straight, her youthful energy restored. (HOORAY!)  
"Hey, you're up!''

Jack turned his head to look at her.  
"How long...how long have I been out?" "About 10 hours or more," Jada yawned.  
OK, maybe not ALL of her youthful energy had returned.

He grinned weakly before sitting up, only to lie back down again with a frustrated grunt.  
"Stupid arrow..." He muttered.  
"Hey, hey, take it easy," Jada said soothingly. He smiled again.  
"Aren't I the one who's supposed to say that?" "I'm not the one who's in bed." "Don't remind me."

He tried to sit up again, and succeeded. "Anyway, I owe you big-time." "Don't mention it, Jack. It was a matter of life and death. Not much of a choice."  
"But-" "It's OK. And even then, I almost didn't make it in time." She leaned back into the armchair.  
"I was about to ask you if Pitch got away." He said. "Yes, he did. But don't worry. We'll get him."

There was silence after that, as Jack stared at her for a while.  
Jada had just been about to say 'Awkward silence.' like she had heard other kids say, when Jack spoke again.  
"You know...you're going to make a great Guardian, Jada."  
Jada tried not to blush. "Um, thanks. And if it makes you feel any better, I think I might rethink my decision. You know, about being a Guardian."  
He smiled so happily after that, that Jada bet that the Man in the Moon, if he was even bothering to watch at the moment could see how bright the grin was.

Later, when Bunny and Sandy came back in, they found the young Winter and Shadow Spirits asleep.

Jada had a dream about a girl who looked like Maia running towards a bright house in the darkness.  
She also saw herself being cornered and trapped by howling shadows, but when she awoke half an hour later, she could barely remember the bizarre dream at all.

INSIDE BEDROOM  
BURGESS  
NIGHTTIME

10 year-old Maia Jameson was asleep.

She had had the best snowball fight ever a couple of days ago with Jamie and her other friends.  
Best of all, she had even gotten to meet Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman and even Jack Frost!

Jack Frost had almost not looked at all like Maia had imagined he would.  
She had been picturing an old man with long white hair, dressed in long blue or white robes, or something like that.  
Instead, Jack Frost had had white sort of spiky hair and a blue hoodie. He had had a wooden staff with a big hook on the end of it.  
AND he had only looked like a teenager, around 14 to 16 years old.  
That was sort of weird.

Even now, Maia's dreams were starting to get kind of weird.  
Lately, she had been having dreams about an older girl in a red jacket with black hair, dark brown and green eyes with a bow and arrows flying around in the sky.  
Wherever she flew, the shadows in the night sky seemed to bend towards her, like she was controlling them.  
Very strange...


	10. Chapter 10

NORTH POLE  
MORNING

Jada had left the Pole.

When the Guardians had next checked on them, they found Jack lying in bed in complete and utter boredom, and Jada was gone.  
They eventually found a note on the bedside table.  
"Sorry for taking off, guys, but I need to find out who I was and am. I need answers. Sorry. Please don't kill me. Jada."

Tooth looked up from reading the note, her usually-cheerful face distraught. "Oh, no. You don't think-?"  
"Burgess," Confirmed North. "And Pitch will find her."  
He turned to Jack. "We need you to go find Jada. You seem to know her most. Go get her."  
Jack got out of bed and stretched quickly before setting off, determined.  
North turned to the other Guardians. "Us, we will go after Pitch. But I need to stay here and get ready to deliver toys by tomorrow."  
"Christmas Eve," He explained, as Sandy and Bunny exchanged a confused look.  
And all the Guardians set off with their different goals, unknowing that this was all part of Pitch's plan.

MIDDLE OF WOODS  
LATE AFTERNOON

Jada was not feeling confident.

She had headed out towards the snow-covered woods because something had told her that something important in her past had happened there, something crucial.  
Jada staggered and hit the ground as her head gave a sudden and unyielding pain. It had been doing that all day, like as though the memories were trying to lead her to them with pain.  
"Unhhh...OK, I think I'm close."

She raised her staff as she took a step forwards.  
"Whoa!-" She had fallen into an old dirt hole, very deep and possibly having tunnels underground.

She looked up at the sky as she was falling into the hole just in time to see an old cottage at the edge of the woods.  
Jada slid through the hole until she hit the bottom stomach-first. "Ow."  
She straightened up and looked around. She was in a long tunnel, with no exits that she could see.  
Jada then chose to try to go left until she got out.

She couldn't have made a worse choice.

INCREASINGLY WORRIED  
EARLY EVENING  
BURGESS

Jack was panicking.

He didn't see Jada on any of the streets or shops and had even looked in the old alley for her.  
He was walking gloomily along the sidewalk, when a small hand tugged at his sleeve.  
"Huh?" He looked down.  
It was the little brown-haired girl from the snowball fight the other day. Maia.  
"Oh, hi." "Who are you looking for?" She asked curiously. "My friend, Jada Shade. She's gone missing."  
He looked up, hoping to spot Jada walking down the street.  
No such luck.  
"Does she have a red jacket?" Jack was so surprised, he stumbled back.  
"Yes-yes, she does. And black hair and a staff that looks like a bow and arrows sometimes. Have you seen her?"  
Maia pushed her long hair behind one ear with a green gloved hand. "In a dream. She was flying around in the sky."  
Jack sighed. Only in a dream.  
But it was more help than he had gotten the whole day, so he rose into the air.  
"OK, thanks." And he left, intent on searching the skies for Jada.  
Little did he know, but Jada was a lot closer than he thought...

END OF TUNNEL  
IN DECIDEDLY PITCH'S LAIR  
PROBABLY EARLY EVENING

Jada was in a huge, dark area.  
There were staircases and cages everywhere.  
Jada immediately spotted the yetis in one of the cages.

She was just about to go free them, when an invisible force yanked her backwards.  
"What?!" She was pushed to the ground.  
Pitch appeared before her, laughing evilly.  
"Oh, here comes the all-brave, little Guardian now," He mocked maliciously.

"Leave me alone," Jada demanded, heart pounding. "Sorry, but no." Pitch waved a hand and something knocked Jada back, smacking her into the wall.  
"Unh!" She grunted in pain.

One of Jada's hands was pinned above her, bound by solid black Nightmare Sand to the wall. Her staff had fallen to the ground.  
She tried to reach out for it, with no success.  
Pitch stepped forwards and picked it up, waving it teasingly in front of her face.  
"Rah!" She yelled, trying in vain to whack him away with her one free hand.  
She struggled against her bonds, but they were too tight. Shoot.  
Pitch then began his mental psyching-out routine.

"So here we are," He announced, spreading his hands around dramatically.  
"I noticed,"Jada snarled. She wiggled her bound hand uselessly in her Nightmare Sand bonds.  
"Now, now," He tutted, wagging his finger in her face."So, have you noticed how the Guardians will never accept you? You and I know what you fear, Jada."  
"Give it your best shot," She replied scathingly.

He sighed, like as though he was an endlessly patient schoolteacher and Jada was his in-cooperative, mouthy student.  
"Very well then. You are afraid of never being worthy to be a Guardian, you're afraid that you're too much of a stupid KID-" He spat out the word 'kid' like as though it was a venomous word.  
"-to ever fit in. You're afraid that you will never know who you were. In fact, you don't know anything about your past, do you?"  
"You don't know ANYTHING about me!" "Don't I? Oh, and that dolt of a Winter Spirit already thinks of you as just a useless kid."  
"And we both know that you will never fit in. You're just too naive, too young and too underpowered to EVER belong. And-"  
"No-no, you're lying," Jada panted. "Stop it, STOP IT!" "Ah, struck a nerve, have I?" He paced before her.

She swept out a foot and sent him crashing back onto the ground.  
He got up, pale face twisted in rage. He raised her staff, raising his knee at the same time...  
"Don't," She gasped out. "Don't do-" But he did.  
SNAP!  
The harsh sound was one of the worst things Jada had ever heard.  
"AAAHHH!" She screamed in pain.  
Pitch disappeared, leaving her broken staff behind. The Nightmare Sand binding vanished, leaving Jada lying on the cold stone floor, gasping for breath.

She stared at the remains of her staff, it was completely broken, like a trail of broken shadows, broken life, and broken dreams.


	11. Chapter 11

MIDDLE OF WOODS  
LATE AFTERNOON

Jada was not feeling confident.

She had headed out towards the snow-covered woods because something had told her that something important in her past had happened there, something crucial.  
Jada staggered and hit the ground as her head gave a sudden and unyielding pain. It had been doing that all day, like as though the memories were trying to lead her to them with pain.  
"Unhhh...OK, I think I'm close."

She raised her staff as she took a step forwards.  
"Whoa!-" She had fallen into an old dirt hole, very deep and possibly having tunnels underground.

She looked up at the sky as she was falling into the hole just in time to see an old cottage at the edge of the woods.  
Jada slid through the hole until she hit the bottom stomach-first. "Ow."  
She straightened up and looked around. She was in a long tunnel, with no exits that she could see.  
Jada then chose to try to go left until she got out.

She couldn't have made a worse choice.

INCREASINGLY WORRIED  
EARLY EVENING  
BURGESS

Jack was panicking.

He didn't see Jada on any of the streets or shops and had even looked in the old alley for her.  
He was walking gloomily along the sidewalk, when a small hand tugged at his sleeve.  
"Huh?" He looked down.  
It was the little brown-haired girl from the snowball fight the other day. Maia.  
"Oh, hi." "Who are you looking for?" She asked curiously. "My friend, Jada Shade. She's gone missing."  
He looked up, hoping to spot Jada walking down the street.  
No such luck.  
"Does she have a red hoodie?" Jack was so surprised, he stumbled back.  
"Yes-yes, she does. And black hair and a staff. Have you seen her?"  
Maia pushed her long hair behind one ear with a gloved hand. "In a dream. She was flying around in the sky."  
Jack sighed. Only in a dream.  
But it was more help than he had gotten the whole day, so he rose into the air.  
"OK, thanks." And he left, intent on searching the skies for Jada.  
Little did he know, but Jada was a lot closer than he thought...

END OF TUNNEL  
IN DECIDEDLY PITCH'S LAIR  
PROBABLY EARLY EVENING

Jada was in a huge, dark area.  
There were staircases and cages everywhere.  
Jada immediately spotted the yetis in one of the cages.

She was just about to go free them, when an invisible force yanked her backwards.  
"What?!" She was pushed to the ground.  
Pitch appeared before her, laughing evilly.  
"Oh, here comes the all-brave, little Guardian now," He mocked maliciously.

"Leave me alone," Jada demanded, heart pounding. "Sorry, but no." Pitch waved a hand and something knocked Jada back, smacking her into the wall.  
"Unh!" She grunted in pain.

One of Jada's hands was pinned above her, bound by solid black Nightmare Sand to the wall. Her staff had fallen to the ground.  
She tried to reach out for it, with no success.  
Pitch stepped forwards and picked it up, waving it teasingly in front of her face.  
"Rah!" She yelled, trying in vain to whack him away with her one free hand.  
She struggled against her bonds, but they were too tight. Shoot.  
Pitch then began his mental psyching-out routine.

"So here we are," He announced, spreading his hands around dramatically.  
"I noticed,"Jada snarled. She wiggled her bound hand uselessly in her Nightmare Sand bonds.  
"Now, now," He tutted, wagging his finger in her face."So, have you noticed how the Guardians will never accept you? You and I know what you fear, Jada."  
"Give it your best shot," She replied scathingly.

He sighed, like as though he was an endlessly patient schoolteacher and Jada was his in-cooperative, mouthy student.  
"Very well then. You are afraid of never being worthy to be a Guardian, you're afraid that you're too much of a stupid KID-" He spat out the word 'kid' like as though it was a venomous word.  
"-to ever fit in. You're afraid that you will never know who you were. In fact, you don't know anything about your past, do you?"  
"You don't know ANYTHING about me!" "Don't I? Oh, and that dolt of a Winter Spirit already thinks of you as just a useless kid."  
"And we both know that you will never fit in. You're just too naive, too young and too underpowered to EVER belong. And-"  
"No-no, you're lying," Jada panted. "Stop it, STOP IT!" "Ah, struck a nerve, have I?" He paced before her.

She swept out a foot and sent him crashing back onto the ground.  
He got up, pale face twisted in rage. He raised her staff, raising his knee at the same time...  
"Don't," She gasped out. "Don't do-" But he did.  
SNAP!  
The harsh sound was one of the worst things Jada had ever heard.  
"AAAHHH!" She screamed in pain.  
Pitch disappeared, leaving her broken staff behind. The Nightmare Sand binding vanished, leaving Jada lying on the cold stone floor, gasping for breath.

She stared at the remains of her staff, it was completely broken, like a trail of broken shadows, broken life, and broken dreams.

ABANDONED COTTAGE  
MIDDLE OF THE WOODS  
BURGESS

How she even managed to get there, Jada had no idea.

Somehow, she had found enough strength to stagger out of Pitch's lair, out of the tunnels and into the woods.  
She had stumbled over to release the yetis, only to find out that Pitch had moved them once again.  
Stupid frickin' Pitch.

Jada stumbled, feeling like as though Pitch had literally snapped her in half instead of just her staff.  
She lurched forwards as her head gave another stupid ache.

Straightening up, she panted, standing right in front of the cottage.  
Yes...This was the place. Was this her home?  
Only one way to find out.

She pushed open the wooden door, wincing at the sudden and loud screech of rusty metal.  
It was a very big room, it had four bed frames pushed against the wall and there was a wooden table near the center of the room.  
In one wall was a big ash-covered fireplace.  
Other than that, the room was bare. Dust seemed to cover every corner, every crevice, every surface.  
Jada sneezed as a cloud of said dust settled down on her.

But wait...there was something else, lying on the tabletop. A piece of paper, perhaps?  
She looked closer, approaching the table cautiously.  
On it was a drawing of a girl, a girl sitting under the moon.  
Shadows covered her face partly. It was amazingly well-drawn.  
Jada looked closer. In the corner of the drawing, she spotted one more clue, just one more.  
A signature. "Jade-Anna Sedarcott." She read aloud. "Well that's amazingly helpful-"  
And she was stopped in sarcastic mid- sentence. Because at that ironic moment, everything became clear.  
Everything.


	12. Chapter 12

RATED T FOR BLOOD AND STUFF.

BURGESS  
EARLY EVENING  
1700-1800's

It was like a bundle of data.  
Pictures flew into Jada's fevered mind as she remembered.

A sunny day on the sandy shore. Golden wheat covering vast fields. Laughing children dancing around green-leaved trees.  
In shock, she saw a girl that looked like her, hanging upside down from a nearby tree branch.  
In fact, it WAS her. But a different version. This version of Jada had dark brown hair, light hazel eyes and tanned skin.  
She was dressed in the same clothes Jada had had when she had woken that night near the ice pond.  
She had a few freckles dotting her nose. This Jada laughed wildly, swinging about. "Jada, be careful!" called a small girl who looked exactly like this version of her.  
"Yeah, Jade, you don't want to fall!" added one of the taller boys, who looked very familiar, with brown hair and light brown-amber eyes.  
And lastly, a full moon shining over the now snow-covered forest, seeming to radiate peace.

Then the scene changed.  
Now she saw a small brown cottage with a crackling, glowing fire inside.  
Jada had a word for it. Home.  
The scene changed again.

"Jade-Anna Sedarcott!"

Jade-Anna looked up at her mother's stern face and cringed.  
"Sorry, Mother?" "You know perfectly well what I mean, young lady. You were supposed to take your sister out to pick berries an hour ago!  
"So you'd better hurry before it gets too dark!" "Yes, ma'am. I'll go and get her now."  
She gave her mother a quick hug before picking up the straw basket and going to find her sister.

9, turning 10 year-old Mellie Sedarcott was right where Jada knew she would be. Waiting on the porch, eager to go out.  
"You're late, Jade!" She pouted, crossing her arms.  
Mellie looked like a smaller copy of Jada, with her long brown hair and brown-green eyes and freckles, but dressed in a lighter brown dress.  
"I know, Mellie. So we got to go now, before the wolves come out."

Mellie immediately started full-out sprinting towards the woods. Jada soon caught up with her, though.  
"Hey, Mellie, slow down. Why are you running?" "Because," Mellie panted out. "We got to pick berries real fast before the wolves come!"  
Jada laughed and stopped, and Mellie slowed too. She put a hand on her shoulder. "Aw, don't worry, Mel. If we're careful, they won't catch us."  
"But we're going into the GREENWOOD FOREST," Mellie exclaimed, bright eyes huge. "They say that no light except on a full moon night ever pierces through the trees, and that the wolves in there always want human flesh!"  
Jada laughed again. "Let me worry about that, alright?"  
And they set off into the dark woods.

15 MINUTES LATER

The sun had set much quicker than Jada would have thought.

Now she was kind of panicking, already imagining the glowing eyes in the darkness, and hungry jaws, dripping with saliva...  
She shook her head hard. Stop it, Jada.

On the bright side, they now had two basket-fulls of berries.  
On the un-bright side, Mellie was so nervous, she was clutching onto Jada's sleeve so tight that Jada would probably get bruises.  
And just as they were near the edge of Greenwood forest, they heard the howl. Then another. Then another. Right behind them, surrounding them.  
And worst of all, it wasn't just Jada's imagination this time.

Mellie gave a soft cry, starting to shake with fear.  
Jada turned, slowly, ever so slowly, and picked a large branch off the ground.  
The first wolf jumped.

SMACK! The branch flew and hit the wolf so hard, it tumbled to the ground and let out a blood-curling howl.  
Its fellow pack members padded up to them, eyes gleaming in unconcealed rage.  
Jada readied her branch. "Go, Mellie. Run!"  
But Mellie didn't move. Jada looked down at her little sister, head buried into her dress, little figure shaking.

She lifted her fearful face up to Jada. "I can't," She said, trembling. "It's too dark!"  
Jada bent down and gave her a hug, handing her the basket and placing a hand on her shoulder, as the wolves crept slowly towards them.  
They would have enough time, but just enough.

Jada looked deep into her sister's eyes.  
"Mellie, you can do it. Be brave. Be brave for me. Run and don't look back, no matter what. GO!"  
She gave her a little shove, and Mellie ran away as fast as a stallion.

She turned back to the wolves. There was no choice.  
She had to give her sister a chance to run for it, or they wouldn't have made it back to the cottage in time.  
Now to lead them off.  
Jada raised the branch and started running in the opposite direction than Mellie had.  
"Hey, dumb wolves!" She taunted, feeling incredibly stupid. "Over here!"  
She danced further and further back, as the night passed on.

ABOUT 25 MINUTES LATER

Jada was tired.

Almost all of the wolves had departed except for their leader, who was stalking Jada like a piece of prey.  
They were so deep in the forest that Jada was sure they'd be near the ice pond now.

She swung the branch at the wolf, as he charged.  
But as fate would have it, that one little swing cost Jada dearly.  
The wolf's claws tore across her throat, leaving a gaping, gushing wound.

Then he pounced on her, making the branch fly out of her hands and away.  
She fumbled at the bloody mess at her throat, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.  
The wolf snarled, his fangs in her face that would be the last thing she would ever see.  
Jada shut her eyes.

CRUNCH.

The footstep in the snow nearby made the wolf sit up in alarm, then dash away.  
Jada never saw who made the footstep.  
She let out a little gasp as she felt the life drain out of her. The last sight she saw was the moon, shining kindly down.  
Jada sighed and closed her eyes.

The last scene she saw was the dappled shadows of the sunless forest grove that her body was sleeping in transforming her.  
They were turning her hair as black as night and her eyes turned dark brown with the bright green flecks of the haunting pine trees .  
That was the last thing before the end of the memories and Jade-Anna Sedarcott was gone.


	13. Chapter 13

BURGESS  
LATER EVENING  
ABANDONED COTTAGE

"Hhh!" Jada fell to the floor, gasping.

"What the-that was ME?! Whoa, I had a family! I saved my sister!"  
She turned around. "Did you see that?" Then she finally took note of the silence. "Oh. There's no one here."

Jada clutched the drawing of the girl under the moon tightly in her hand.  
It was amazing, how the paper seemed perfectly preserved, not crumbling to dust like she would have thought it might.  
She studied it closer, then froze in shock. The girl under the moon was familiar, holding a staff that gleamed in the moon's radiance.  
It was her. Not the past her, but the present, immortal Jada Shade.  
"But how would I have known?..."  
Jada pressed her hands to her head, trying to recall the memory.

It had been a cloudless night, with a perfect, glowing moon.  
Jade-Anna had thought that it had been the perfect time to draw the full moon in all its glory.  
And so, taking a pencil, she had drawn painstakingly, the moon over the forest near her home.  
A few minutes later, Jada had recalled a strange dream that she had had about a girl with black hair in a strange red shirt and long branch standing beneath the moon.  
And she had added the girl to her masterpiece.

OK, this was a weird day. Like not just weird, but weird, WEIRD.  
It seemed that Jada had discovered a new power: foretelling.

But now, she really had to find a way to fix her staff, foil Pitch's plan and attempt to aid the Guardians in their battle.  
But, uh, first it would be really good if she knew Pitch's Top Evil Plan 2 in the first place.

She recalled his parting words that he had shot back over his shoulder before he had departed.  
"Let's see how good the leader of the so-called Guardians is after no one believes anymore. A very merry Christmas to you and his lost helpers!"

OK, that was easy.  
It seemed that Pitch's Evil Plan 2 seemed to be a plot to ruin Christmas, suck North's powers down the drain when no child believed anymore and, lastly, to capture his helpers so that North would have a very hard time preparing for Christmas.  
Especially even if he might not have realized it yet, and the other Guardians wouldn't be able to help him because they were all out looking for..."Me!" Jada smacked herself in the head.  
God, she was so stupid!

She needed to get out of there. Like, NOW.  
Jada bent down, picked up her broken staff with her hands, and concentrated her energy.  
Nothing.  
"Ugh, holy-" She said something in French (she had learned it when she went to Paris this one time.  
Man, she had gotten so excited and that had turned out disatrous. Jada was pretty sure that the Parisians personally didn't like it when the Eiffel Tower completely blacked out) that she was pretty sure the other Guardians wouldn't have liked very much.  
Jada concentrated again, trying to apply the same power that she had felt when she had healed Jack...  
Minutes passed by...("C'mon, now..") More eternally long seconds...("I got this, I SO got this...") Another eensy-weensy minute...("FIX, ALREADY!")

And then, it happened. Black swirling energy covered the ugly break, closing the gap, resealing the ancient wood.  
Jada grinned as she saw her repaired staff. The illumined light from the staff shone on her face and tiny strands of escaped hair whirled around her head, like she was some sort of dark angel.  
The grin faded, replaced by a look of grim determination.  
"Time to go," Jada muttered to herself as she flew out of the cottage.  
"I got some friends to save."


	14. Chapter 14

REALLY SCARED NOW  
FLYING AROUND  
BURGESS

If Jack thought that he was going to find Jada in the skies, he was so wrong.

Not a sign of the black ponytail flying in the wind or a glimpse of the dark red jacket.  
Her staff or bow was no where to be seen.

Worst of all, he had absolutely no idea if Pitch had killed her or hurt her or had done something extremely bad.  
By now, Jack was thinking something like all of the above.  
THAT was how worried he was.  
He was heading back to Burgess when he saw a welcoming sight of a green and blue blur hovering above the clouds.

Tooth was floating gracefully, her back to him.  
A few mini-fairies swarmed around her head like a cloud of hungry mosquitoes.  
She kept muttering under her breath, like she was reciting tooth fairy destinations and plans to find Pitch at the same time.  
"Any luck?" Jack called out as he flew towards her.  
Baby Tooth, his little mini-fairy friend, let out a squeak of joy and flew to him.

Tooth turned and gave him a despairing look. Her gentle, usually cheerful young face was full of worry.  
"No! And Jada's not with you yet either, is she?"  
Jack's heart sank again. "No."

Tooth sighed, and sank down a little, her face completely full of gloom.  
Hence the worrying began.  
"What if she's hurt, or unconscious, or scared, or...or-" Tooth's worries were cut off when Jack grabbed her shoulders gently.  
Looking into her sparkling violet eyes, he said slowly.  
"Spending too much time worrying about Jada isn't going to help. We need to find Pitch now. Jada might be wherever he is."  
Tooth relaxed slightly, her flitting wings fluttering less anxiously than before.  
"Alright, let's go find Pitch."  
They flew off, too far away and too wrapped up in their mission to hear the warning call from a certain black-haired teenager just a few cloud-lengths away.

REALLY UNHAPPY  
FLYING ABOVE THE CLOUDS  
BURGESS (KIND OF)

Jada couldn't believe her rotten luck.

They had been JUST THERE.  
If only she had been able to yell a little louder, like a megaphone or something.  
Hmmm...  
Maybe she should ask and hope for a megaphone for Christmas...

She flew after them, but Tooth was incredibly fast, and how Jack was still managing to keep up with her, Jada had no idea.

Then they were gone.

She flew around trying not to lose her cool.  
And once again failing miserably.

And so Jada found a new way to spend her time.  
She started cursing in French, Latin, Cantonese and pretty much every language she had ever learned  
(which was a lot, but, hey, if you've been living for over 300 years, languages class was actually pretty interesting).  
Jada shielded her eyes as an impossibly bright light approached her.  
"What the-?" She exclaimed, reverting back to English.

The serene Guardian of Dreams lowered the glare of the light surrounding him as he stared triumphantly back at her.

NORTH POLE

North could not understand what was happening to him.  
The Workshop was a total mess and he felt gradually weakened.

It was true that Pitch had returned, but how on this Earth could he have managed to penetrate North's strengths-?!  
He groaned as he tried to lift one of his swords.  
It suddenly felt extremely heavy. The yetis were gone-taken, no doubt.  
And already the little lights on the Globe were flickering, about to give up belief in favor of their Nightmares.

His great helpers were lost and now he had an impossible task up ahead and no way to complete it.  
Christmas Eve was in less than three hours and North had about 2000 toys in total; not enough for even half the children in the world.

North was about to give up hope when a flash of golden light appeared above the dimming Globe and a red sleeved hand reached out for his.  
"Need a hand?" A familiar voice asked with a smile.

BURGESS

Maia was getting sorta scared.

She was wondering why all the clouds had suddenly turned black and why the whole town seemed to be all dark.  
Nobody was going out of their houses, and some of her friends had been acting weird.  
Even Jamie, which should have been not possible.

She knew the Guardians were there, but what if it had all been a dream?  
None of her friends except Jamie had mentioned the awesomest snowball fight ever since a few days ago, and the memory of it was already getting blurry, like a dream that Maia could never remember.

If anything, the girl in the red jacket seemed to be getting clearer and clearer as though Maia had seen or heard of her before.

She sighed and leaned away from the window, getting more and more scared as she thought she could hear evil-sounding laughter in the wind.


End file.
